Forze releases Forze VIII and announces BWT as main sponsor

Student Race Team Forze Hydrogen Electric Racing from the Delft University of Technology partners with F1 team sponsor BWT

During the Nürburgring 24H race event, Forze announced its new main sponsor BWT Best Water Technology. Additionally, the student team presented its newest generation hydrogen racer: the Forze VIII, completely in the distinctive pink, magenta and silver livery of its new sponsor.

The student team of 45 members strong has been waiting with much anticipation for this moment. The Forze VIII was revealed with much excitement due to the fact that the team is working with such a major player in the market for water technologies. As well as an F1 race team, the company can now boast of sponsoring a clean energy hydrogen racer on its roster. This signifies the first step towards hydrogen racing for BWT.

Gijs Vermeij, team leader of Forze: “We are ecstatic and proud about this new collaboration. For a student team to be working with such a prominent multinational as main sponsor is a big step for the team and for hydrogen in the racing world.”

After more than two years of successful collaboration with PitPoint clean fuels as main sponsor, it is time for the team to grow further, which will be enabled by partnering with BWT. PitPoint will remain closely involved with the team as sponsor to support this growth further.

Forze VIII

During the presentation, the sustainable racer looks ready to race, but before that can happen, more tests and updates to the car need to be carried out. The first big race for the team and the new car will occur soon: the Supercar Challenge during the Gamma Racing Day from 17-19 August, this summer. At this race, Forze will show that sustainability and racing can be synonymous, as the car’s only emission is pure water. This year’s goal is to win the Sports Division, and the team has faith in their flagship car. Vermeij: “With a brand new car, and a new sponsor with F1 experience, breaking hydrogen records and pioneering in sustainable racing is just a matter of time.”

24h Nürburgring 2018 – Foto: Gruppe C Photography

Hydrogen as Fuel

With the development of hydrogen powered race cars, Forze aims to emphasize the feasibility of hydrogen as a clean fuel for the future. The hydrogen powered system works as follows: in the fuel cell of the racer, hydrogen from the storage tanks combines with oxygen from the environment to produce water, and electricity. The powertrain of the vehicle then uses this electricity to power the electric motors. One of the big advantages of this system is that bulky and heavy batteries are left out, in favour of the fuel cell. This allows fuel cell cars to have a relatively high range compared to BEVs. Another big advantage is that you can refuel the car in a matter of minutes, making it very practical for endurance racing, but also for everyday life.

About Forze

Forze is a student team from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. The team consists of 45 students from different majors, ranging from aerospace engineering to industrial design. They all unite to carry out the goal of promoting hydrogen fuel cell technology by designing, building, and racing a state-of-the-art fuel cell powered race car. That’s what being a Dream team at the TU Delft is all about: learning and innovating, to push the boundaries of what is technologically possible.

About Forze

Dreamteam Forze was called to life in 2007 to bring a positive contribution to the sustainability of the mobility industry. With 50 passionate and talented students from Delft University of Technology, Forze built the first hydrogen electric race car in the world. The goal of this dreamteam is to promote the use of hydrogen technology in racing. During the eleven years that Forze exists, they have built eight cars and achieved multiple great things with these cars like building the fastest hydrogen race car ever.